Hello! Writing again today after an accomplished and all-over-the-place day.
Started it off with a trip to Abbey Road(we had to) and it was everything we hoped for-ridiculous, cheesy, and that's about it, but exciting. The street surprised us by being smaller than anticipated. It was ridiculous because people were risking being run over by taking this one picture and there were at least 20 people at a time there doing the same thing.
Our next visit was to the British Museum. It was huge and crowded, so we only managed an hour there. We did see the highlights-the Rosetta Stone and the mummies. Oh, and Andrei ran into an friend and her family from school on the way in.
We got hungry after that, so we headed over to the fancy Harrod's, the biggest department store in the world(I just made that up). As recommended by Grandma, we checked out the food hall where each room holds a different kind of food(fruits and vegetables, chocolate and coffee, fresh meat and seafood, etc.). We ended up getting some sandwiches and a sausage and potato pie. As we were eating outside, it began to rain. And we watched everyone move under the covers where we happened to be.
As is was only 4pm, we decided to check out the Royal Observatory Greenwich. We got a little turned around when we arrived, but finally found Greenwich park and made it up the steep hill to the observatory. It started raining pretty heavily while we were there, but it just made all the buildings look more amazing. The walk was worth it because the place was interesting, especially to Andrei. We even got to see where the Prime Meridian was and stood in both hemispheres at the same time. Magic. Even more confused about time.
So we are looking forward to getting to bed a bit earlier than the past few nights because tomorrow morning we will be heading to Stonehenge and Bath!
8.04.2010
Another Full Day
Didn't quite make it to the blogging last night because we fell asleep after another full day of wandering around London.
Andrei pinpointed the source of our exhaustion-the changing of the guards. We got there by 10 am and the ceremony starts at 11:30am. Not too crowded when we arrived, so we got a pretty good spot at the top of the Victoria memorial steps. Every time we looked up, a hundred more tourists arrived so by 11am it was packed and people were being herded by police officers on horses. This is about the time everyone stood up for no reason. The ceremony itself was interesting but puzzling because it was hard to tell who was switching with who, and again the shouting police officers on horses. There was a comical moment when an Asian tourist who apparently did not understand English was escorted out of the area by one of the horsemen by holding his hand the whole way.
So that was that and we wandered past Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens for a picnic mainly of bread, meat, and blueberries. It is a huge park with a small lake running down the middle with paddle boaters. Busy as most other places we've been to so far. Then we went on to see the main reason I wanted to go to this particular park-the Peter Pan statue!
We then hopped on the Tube with our new Oyster card to go to the other side of town over by the Monument(we decided not to climb the spiral staircase inside to the top) and London Bridge. Wandered over the London Bridge to the south side of the Thames River. Here is where we followed the cobblestone path to the replica of the Globe Theater. Unfortunately, the 7:30 pm showing of Henry VIII was sold out. So we stopped by the Southwark Cathedral where they have excavated a piece of a Roman Road and some other archaelogical treasures. Then we crossed over the Tower Bridge which is our new favorite bridge. We had plans to visit the Tower of London, but would have only had an hour by that time, so skipped it.
Our new plan-search for some fish and chips. And it was a success after a long walk down the side of the Thames. We went to a pub called "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" which I found in my guide book as the closest one to where we were. It was definitely "olde." Dark atmosphere, small seats, benches, low ceilings, several levels. Perfect. We got our fish and chips accompanied by a half pint of lager each.
We resumed our walk down the Thames down to see the London Eye, Big Ben, the Parliament buildings, and the Westminster Abbey(lots of name dropping). Huge buildings which look more like churches than government housing.
Having walked for about 10 hours straight, we decided to return to the hostel for a nice shower and rest.
Today will probably be another full day.
Andrei pinpointed the source of our exhaustion-the changing of the guards. We got there by 10 am and the ceremony starts at 11:30am. Not too crowded when we arrived, so we got a pretty good spot at the top of the Victoria memorial steps. Every time we looked up, a hundred more tourists arrived so by 11am it was packed and people were being herded by police officers on horses. This is about the time everyone stood up for no reason. The ceremony itself was interesting but puzzling because it was hard to tell who was switching with who, and again the shouting police officers on horses. There was a comical moment when an Asian tourist who apparently did not understand English was escorted out of the area by one of the horsemen by holding his hand the whole way.
So that was that and we wandered past Hyde Park to Kensington Gardens for a picnic mainly of bread, meat, and blueberries. It is a huge park with a small lake running down the middle with paddle boaters. Busy as most other places we've been to so far. Then we went on to see the main reason I wanted to go to this particular park-the Peter Pan statue!
We then hopped on the Tube with our new Oyster card to go to the other side of town over by the Monument(we decided not to climb the spiral staircase inside to the top) and London Bridge. Wandered over the London Bridge to the south side of the Thames River. Here is where we followed the cobblestone path to the replica of the Globe Theater. Unfortunately, the 7:30 pm showing of Henry VIII was sold out. So we stopped by the Southwark Cathedral where they have excavated a piece of a Roman Road and some other archaelogical treasures. Then we crossed over the Tower Bridge which is our new favorite bridge. We had plans to visit the Tower of London, but would have only had an hour by that time, so skipped it.
Our new plan-search for some fish and chips. And it was a success after a long walk down the side of the Thames. We went to a pub called "Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese" which I found in my guide book as the closest one to where we were. It was definitely "olde." Dark atmosphere, small seats, benches, low ceilings, several levels. Perfect. We got our fish and chips accompanied by a half pint of lager each.
We resumed our walk down the Thames down to see the London Eye, Big Ben, the Parliament buildings, and the Westminster Abbey(lots of name dropping). Huge buildings which look more like churches than government housing.
Having walked for about 10 hours straight, we decided to return to the hostel for a nice shower and rest.
Today will probably be another full day.
8.02.2010
London Day 1...or 2?
It's hard to keep track. We've been in London for about 10.5 hours but today feels like a long yesterday and I think we may have ended up 8 hours in the future. Time travel is exhausting. But we made it with basically no problems! In fact, we got to the airport 3 hours earlier than needed and through security in 20 minutes!
We are staying at a hostel in Victoria on a fairly quiet street where all the buildings look the same. It's got everything we need, is central to most of the sites, and our roommates seem nice. They even provide internet access and computers so I can write this for a small fee.
After such a long trip and little sleep, we still managed a bit of site seeing. We took the Tube to Picadilly Circus to visit the tourist office in search of a calling card and were directed elsewhere about 10-15 minutes away. We walked for about 30 minutes and couldn't find the said place, but it worked out because we ended up on Oxford and around Soho. Next, we went to Trafalgar Square, which I think impressed Andrei the most. It was pretty impressive-especially the giant lions, although we missed out on climbing them. We did take some cheesy timed pictures with them in the background though.
We had to call it a night after that, but we got to see a lot of London already, and tomorrow will be a full day.
We are staying at a hostel in Victoria on a fairly quiet street where all the buildings look the same. It's got everything we need, is central to most of the sites, and our roommates seem nice. They even provide internet access and computers so I can write this for a small fee.
After such a long trip and little sleep, we still managed a bit of site seeing. We took the Tube to Picadilly Circus to visit the tourist office in search of a calling card and were directed elsewhere about 10-15 minutes away. We walked for about 30 minutes and couldn't find the said place, but it worked out because we ended up on Oxford and around Soho. Next, we went to Trafalgar Square, which I think impressed Andrei the most. It was pretty impressive-especially the giant lions, although we missed out on climbing them. We did take some cheesy timed pictures with them in the background though.
We had to call it a night after that, but we got to see a lot of London already, and tomorrow will be a full day.
7.23.2010
It's Coming Up
In about a week and a half, Andrei and I will be landing in London! Still have a lot of information to gather, but all the important things are done...ways to get places, places to sleep, rough idea of what we want to see/do.
We have scratched York off the itinerary to allow for day trips in each city, which we are pretty excited about. From London, we will be visiting Stonehenge(how could we have missed it) and spending a few hours in Bath. In Edinburgh, we will be taking a tour bus to Loch Ness, Glencoe, and the Highlands. Also a must see and we get to see more than just a city, which is what Scotland is all about. Same goes for Ireland where we will be taking a bus tour to the Moher Cliffs and a few other destinations(as suggested by one of my friends who studied abroad in Dublin).
We are excited!
We have scratched York off the itinerary to allow for day trips in each city, which we are pretty excited about. From London, we will be visiting Stonehenge(how could we have missed it) and spending a few hours in Bath. In Edinburgh, we will be taking a tour bus to Loch Ness, Glencoe, and the Highlands. Also a must see and we get to see more than just a city, which is what Scotland is all about. Same goes for Ireland where we will be taking a bus tour to the Moher Cliffs and a few other destinations(as suggested by one of my friends who studied abroad in Dublin).
We are excited!
6.30.2010
Something To Be Excited About
Well, I guess there's a lot to be excited about since my last post. Many decisions have been made after much unnecessary worry and things are happening. To name a few, my brother graduated from high school, I have decided to move to SF at the end of August, my mom is selling the home we grew up in this summer, I have told my employers my last working day, and we have made some progress with Europe!
When first trying to decide where to go in Europe, we wanted to go to about 7 countries. Finally, we narrowed it down to the Great Britain and Ireland. As of now, the plan is to fly into London, bus/train up to York for a day or so, keep heading north to Edinburgh, fly to Dublin, then head on back home from the 1st of August to the 16th.
And the something to be excited about is that we bought the tickets today! And at not too shabby a price, either. So, looks like we're going.
1.19.2010
Banana Slugs
Went to San Francisco this weekend. Cold and wet. Two favorites. Played with the colors a bit on Picasa. Lion is at Sutro Heights Park after breakfast. Skyline is from Buena Vista, I believe.
Figuring things out. But it's nice.
1.15.2010
New Job
So, I actually found a job right when I was about to give up. I started 2 weeks ago. It is technically two jobs in the same one.
The first job is for a set of twins-girl and boy. I pick them up from school and do homework with them, take them to afterschool classes, arrange playdates, and try to think up some fun things to do. I get to do a lot of addition and subtraction. The second job is as a caregiver for their older sister. It's Monday-Friday and I get some half-days. I'm enjoying it so far. Still adjusting, but enjoying it.
The first job is for a set of twins-girl and boy. I pick them up from school and do homework with them, take them to afterschool classes, arrange playdates, and try to think up some fun things to do. I get to do a lot of addition and subtraction. The second job is as a caregiver for their older sister. It's Monday-Friday and I get some half-days. I'm enjoying it so far. Still adjusting, but enjoying it.
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